Ornette: Made in America

1986
7| 1h18m| en
Details

Shirley Clarke's frenetic documentary about multi-talented musician Ornette Coleman.

Director

Producted By

Caravan of Dreams Productions

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Trailers & Clips

Also starring Charlie Haden

Reviews

Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
MusicChat It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.
Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
madsagittarian 40 years on, the jury is still out on Ornette Coleman. His "harmolodic" theory was/is one of the foundations of the free jazz movement. His original quartet (with Don Cherry, Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins) was the scourge of the jazz world in the late 1950's... and even today the revolutionary sax player is still a hot topic for debate.I am not schooled enough in music theory to properly explain free jazz to those who may not know the term, but the best attempt I can say is that free jazz players ignore melody and seem to play in one long line of sound, rather than playing off of each other. (Hope that makes sense...) Anyhow, there haven't been many films made on free jazz, but of the few I've seen, Shirley Clarke's documentary on Coleman is by far the most thorough in terms of explaining the revolutionary sense of the music. Although I like free jazz, I prefer Cecil Taylor, Art Ensemble of Chicago or Pharoah Sanders to Coleman. He was instrumental in giving voice to this strain of music, but still I think his sound is one of the least interesting of the movement. But that's just my subjective response to the man. The beauty of ORNETTE: MADE IN America is that it doesn't try to change one's mind about him. It is however a fascinating study of a figure who really sacrificed a lot for his unique voice.The film opens in the present tense with his band Prime Time (which adapted his theories to jazz fusion)- and it is ironically amusing seeing him play before a black-tie crowd in his native Texas. Yes, Coleman has come home again.... and to open arms, however this warm greeting was hard won. In Coleman's own words, the sudden appreciation of his work is this: "I guess if you live long enough, you get to be an elder statesman."It is enough to see Coleman practice his music in one of the most unholy places in Urbana (an abandoned building often populated by addicts and knife-wielding crazies)- fittingly working on outlaw music among other societal outcasts. However, this film pushes Ornette's legacy even further-- he often comes across as some kind of pop icon or superhero (as best exemplified by the cartoonish image of his likeness flying across a starry backdrop)- while he may be more mainstream than ever, this silly bit pushes it a little too far.Sadly, ORNETTE MADE IN America is not widely available. My one and only screening of this in 2001 at Toronto's Cinematheque was made available by a film print which came and went under the arm of someone from New York the same day. It is a revealing, complex and somewhat moving portrait of a person who stands by his art regardless of its interpretation.